High School Lunar Chron Life
by 3pj
Summary: Basically the Lunar Chron characters in high school. Mostly be starring Cress and Thorne! Course, others will be included. Thorne is not himself in the beginning of the story, but meeting Cress makes him change into the Thorne we know! He has his personal problems at home, and meeting Cress changes his life, letting him meet more friends and being more serious with girls XD.
1. Chapter 1

_RIIIIIINNNNGGG!_

Everyone left in the hallways were scurrying down to their rooms, not wanting to be late for class. All… but Thorne. And this cute girl he was hooked up with. Cate, he thought was her name? He didn't know, but after a few minutes, she broke away, and smiled a coy grin.

"Well, Thorne," she said, tracing a finger on his jawline. "I'll see you later." And she walked off into the building.

After a few minutes of _his_ quiet time, Thorne gathered his stuff and went into the building, also. Well, _she_ definitely distracted him from his problems.

Thorne walked into his homeroom, and surprise! There was a short, baby-cute girl, with the longest golden hair Thorne has ever seen in his life, sitting in his seat. The teacher wasn't paying any attention to the students, and Thorne walked over to the new girl. She looked frightened.

"Hey, you," Thorne told her. She looked up and her big blue eyes stared at him.

"Me?" she squeaked.

"Yeah, _you_." He rolled my eyes. "You're in _my_ seat. Were you _trying_ to get attention from me or what?"

The girl swallowed, and scrambled out of my seat. "S-sorry. I-I didn't know…" Man, now she was making him feel bad.

"Well you better have not known."

She went over to the teacher's desk and said something so quiet that the teacher had to lean in and ask again what she was saying. Then, he pointed right next to me, the empty desk that used to be some kid's, but he got kicked out of the school for… something. He didn't know.

The girl saw where the teacher was pointing at, and Thorne could see the fear and dread in her eyes. Her whole body language screamed it. She was sliding her feet across the floor, trying her best not to be seen, and carefully sat on the edge of her seat, as far as Thorne as possible.

Thorne kept in a laugh. This was the first time he's seen a girl at this school this shy. Or uncomfortable with attention. At least over half of the school, all the girls wanted attention, one way or another, but this girl was different.

"Hey, you," Thorne told her again. She looked up, and the same big blue eyes stared back at him.

"Y-yes…?" she mustered out.

"What's your name?" Thorne asked her.

Thorne had to wait a few seconds before she barely whispered, "Crescent Moon. But I prefer Cress… please."

Before Thorne knew it, the smile that was tugging his mouth finally came out and he turned away to hide it. This girl was just too adorable. When was he going to find a person like this? Before he could say anything to her, Cress, he thought, the teacher came up to the front of the room and tried to settle everyone down.

"Now, class. Listen up for a moment please." Everyone shut up. "Thank you." The teacher paused before he spoke. "My name is Torin. Just call me that, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year." Another pause. "Now, I'm knowing that everyone here is not new and knows each other well?"

"No, Torin. There's a girl back there next to Thorne, and no one knows who she is," said a boy. Thorne couldn't see his face from here. Beside him, Cress froze.

"Ah, well, would you come up to the front of the class and introduce yourself, miss?" Torin asked her. Cress was still frozen, and it took her a few seconds to get herself recollected. She slowly stood up, slowly took slow steps, and slowly turned around to face the class. Her blue eyes got bigger. She cleared her throat and managed a _very_ weak smile.

"Hi, my name is Cress… it's nice to… meet you guys…" she whispered. Thorne groaned. What is _up_ with this girl?

Someone in the front laughed, repeating Thorne's thought, except he said it out loud. "What a joke. What is _up_ with this girl?"

Everyone started to laugh, and Cress looked like she was about to cry. Thorne sighed. Before he knew what he was doing, he raised my hand so Torin could see. He did. "Ah, yes, mister…?"

"I'm also new to this school. Could I introduce myself to the class?" Thorne shouted over the laughter. Everyone stopped laughing and looked at him. He shot a warning glance to everyone in the room, saying, _Don't you dare tell Torin I'm not new_.

Then he got up, made his way through the rows of desks, and faced the classroom. Cress was frozen, not even able to look at his way. "Go sit down, Cress. Can't you see it's my time?" he said, making sure everybody could hear me. She got out of frozen mode, and unlike before, she raced to her seat, and put her head down, trying to make herself smaller.

"Ahem. Yeah, well. I'm Thorne. Thanks," Thorne said, and went back to his seat. He still didn't know why he did that. Was it for the attention? Or was it just to help Cress?

The room got so uncomfortably quiet, that Thorne wished someone could break the silence. Luckily, Kai, the son of the director at this school and the girls' number one choice of asking out (of course, Thorne was number two), raised his hand. Torin gladly called on him. "Yes, mister Kaito?" Of course, _Torin_ knew Kai's name.

"It's Kai. And I was wondering… can we please start class now?" Kai asked him. "It's kind of getting really… quiet."

A girl from the other side of the room snorted. Thorne turned to see who it was. Linh Cinder. Everyone knew who she was. She was the best mechanic in the school, and everyone came over to her whenever they broke something. The next day, Cinder would come to school, having the whole entire thing good as new.

Kai's face got red when he saw that Cinder snorted at him. Cress was still in her official panic mode, and hasn't raised her head up. His friends, Wolf and Jacin were snickering about something in their little corner, Scarlet Benoit, the French girl was in her own place, writing something in her notebook, and the crazy girl, Winter Hayle-Blackburn was in her own world, muttering things to herself while bumping her head on the wall behind her.

Next to him, he heard Cress's voice, repeating over and over, "I am a courageous adventurer that loves to meet new people, and loves attention. I am a courageous adventurer that loves to meet new people, and loves attention. I am a…" Thorne sighed. He could tell this was going to be a long year.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, you! Cress, right?" Thorne ran to catch up with Cress. Cress stopped and turned around. She was _really_ small. She was a full foot shorter than Thorne, and he had to look down to talk to her.

"Yes…?" she looked up at me.

"Well… I got your name, but I never gave you mine." Thorne said to her. What was he _doing_? He wasn't the type to talk to short, baby-cute girls. He normally approached the attentive, sexy, wild style. "The name is Captain Carswell Thorne. At your service, miss." He bent down and held Cress's hand to his lips. Man, he hasn't down this introduction in such a long time. How long was it? 5, 6 years maybe?

"Um… Th-thank y-you," Cress stuttered and pulled her hand back quickly. Thorne smiled a big smile. Like how he used to.

"Do you want to hang out with me and my friends during lunch? You seem like the shy one, and I don't want you to be sitting alone on the first day," Thorne says. _Dang it, Thorne!_ He thought to himself. _You don't tell a girl that!_

But Cress didn't seem to mind. Except for the part where he asked her to heat lunch with him. "Um… Well… Maybe… I'll-I'll think about it," she murmured.

"Great! Well, I'll see you then!" and Thorne went to his next class.

All day, Thorne couldn't stop thinking about Cress. Her big blue eyes. Her slender and petite body. Her freckles that danced across her cheeks and nose. She looked so... sweet. Innocent. Lovable. Cuddly. Fluffy. Was that possible for somebody to be fluffy? Thorne didn't know. He just kept on thinking about those blue eyes...

"Mr. Thorne? Can you answer the question please?" the teacher (Thorne forgot her name) said.

"Sure. Well, let's see. I think C is the answer. Am I right?" Thorne replied. He hasn't been paying attention, actually. He always chooses C on science problems.

The teacher looked surprised. "Yes, it is, Mr. Thorne." Well, then. He guessed it right! The teacher didn't call on him for the rest of the period. Of course, that was totally fine for Thorne. He just kept on counting the seconds until class was over. He was jumpy. He couldn't sit still. He purposely broke his pencil did stand up and sharpen it. And all the time, he thought about Cress.

 _1,456... 1,457... Crescent Moon... 1,460... Break the pencil. Get up. Walk over to the sharpener. Peek out the door's window to see if Cress was by chance in the hallway._ And she was. Thorne was so surprised, that he almost tripped over himself while walking to the sharpener. But... it wasn't right. Cress didn't seem... right. Then Thorne saw it. The tears flowing from eyes. She was _crying_.

"Um... Teacher? I need to go to the bathroom. Really bad. Like, I'm about to pee right now!" Thorne made it look urgent on his face. The teacher just sighed and signed a quick pass. She gave it to him, and he dashed out of the door, straight to Cress.

Cress didn't seem to notice him, probably because her head was down, and she kept on crying. Out in front of her locker, he thought. She also had a bathroom pass. Which was weird because don't most people, when they cry, cry in the bathroom? Thorne went over next to her, and sat down. She still didn't notice him. Soon, the crying stopped, and she lifter her head from her knees. She gasped and scooted herself away from Thorne when she saw him right next to her.

"Ca-Captain. Wha-What are you doing here?" Cress looked so surprised, her face and eyes red from crying. Her small nose was a bit red, too. Thorne reached into his back pocket, and got his mother's handkerchief he always carried around with him. He lifted his hand to wipe the tears away, but when Cress flinched, he froze, and instead, he just handed it to her.

"Here, Damsel. Use this. I can call you that, right? I've always wanted to save a damsel in distress." Thorne smiled softly, and Cress took the handkerchief. She turned around to wipe her tears off, and gave it back to him when she was done. Thorne gave it back to her. "You can keep it. Well, not really _keep it_ keep it, but keep it until you can talk to more people. And don't cry to much when there's no water around you. It dehydrates your body."

Cress nodded, and she smiled. She smiled! Even though it was weak, Thorne could sense the genuine feeling in it. "Thank you, Captain. I really appreciate it," she said without any stutters, even though it was still quiet. Thorne stood up, and helped her up, too. "I guess I'll be going. I'll see you at lunch, Captain." Then she turned around and started to go to her class. Right when he was going to turn towards his class, Cress turned around and said, "I've always wanted to be saved by a hero," and she left went into her classroom.

Thorne smiled, and said, even though no one could hear him, "It's my pleasure, Damsel."


	3. Chapter 3

"Guys, this is Cress. She's a friend of mine," Thorne said. He gestured to the place where Cress was supposed to be standing, but she wasn't there. Thorne twirled around to find her trying to hide herself from Wolf and Jacin. Thorne laughed nervously. "Sorry guys. As cute as she might be, she's sorta shy."

Cress came out from behind, mostly hiding her face behind her hair. Next to Jacin, a girl, the most beautiful girl Thorne has ever seen, giggled and said to Cress, "It's alright, Cress. We don't bite. Trust me."

Wolf, with his crazy hair and super muscular body, said in a rough, but not mean voice, "If she doesn't want to sit with us, you guys can sit somewhere else. Not that much of a big deal, right Jacin?" But Jacin was too busy to tell some kids that were whispering about the girl that was sitting next to Jacin, to scram. The poor guys were scrambling away, and Jacin put a protective arm around the girl, while she seemed to notice nothing.

Thorne sighed, and Cress slowly moved her hair from her face, and said, "Hello… My name is Crescent Moon. I go by Cress, though." The girl next to Jacin smiled beautifully.

"That's beautiful. My name's Winter Hayle-Blackburn. I'm the stepsister of the principal at this school. She's Levana Blackburn. It's pleasant to meet you." Winter said this slowly, like she was reciting a poem.

Thorne grinned, glad that Cress was making progress, and said, "Well, the super-muscular guy is Wolf. He looks scary, but he's harmless. I think." Thorne chuckled at Cress's perplexed face. "And the guy sitting next to Winter is Jacin. He's sort of annoying when he talks, though. And you don't want to get on his bad side." Cress nodded carefully, and looked up at Thorne.

"Well, what do you know? Our very own Captain Thorne is almost back to himself again, just like how he was 5 years ago." Scarlet came from behind Thorne and Cress, and sat in front of Wolf. Wolf froze, as if someone had pressed pause on a remote control. "Well, what are you doing? Aren't you going to sit down?" Scarlet patted the chair next to her, and Thorne took a seat. "Who's the new girl?" Scarlet asked.

"That's my friend, Cress. She's new this year." Thorne started to dig into his food, and Cress sat next to him.

"Yeah, I sort of noticed that when you made the whole racket about being 'new' to this school this year. What was that about? Trying to show your arrogant side off, but failed?" Scarlet snickered. Wolf was still frozen, his bright green eyes fixed on Scarlet. She didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, I don't know. Trying to save a damsel in distress, I guess you can call it." Thorne winked at Cress, and she squirmed from the attention she got.

Just then, Wolf suddenly sprang up, and walked to the other side of the cafeteria as fast as he could. Scarlet frowned. "What's wrong with him? Ate something bad, or what?"

Jacin shrugged, his arm still around Winter. "Dunno. Been acting weird ever since you came. You must smell bad or something. Don't blame him, though." Scarlet rolled her eyes, and muttered something under her breath.

Beside him, Cress started to poke at her food, and she smiled at Thorne when he smiled at her. The feeling was amazing, like he was earning a sticker when he was younger from his teacher. Earning a smile from Cress made his whole day.

After lunch was over, Thorne walked Cress over to her class, and on the way, he saw the director's son, Kai, and Cinder fighting over something in an empty lab room. There were a lot of hand movements, and angry faces. Thorne stopped, and so did Cress. He smiled his mischievous grin he hasn't smiled in forever, and said, "Let's eavesdrop. This looks pretty interesting."

Cress widened her eyes into an alarming state, and whispered, "But isn't that a bad thing, Captain?"

Thorne shook his head. "Not if you're with me, you're not."

They both walked over to the door, and crouched right front of the door, and put their ears on the door. Even though it was a bit muffled, Thorne could hear just fine.

 **Kai: I don't get it. Why won't you even** ** _consider_** **it? I'm sorry for what I've done in the past, bu—**

 **Cinder: I don't want to talk about the past. Not with you anyways. Why do you even care? We might have had the same feelings back then, but I don't.**

 _Woah. Cinder and Kai were dating?_ Thorne thought. _Now_ this _was shocking._

 **Kai: But** ** _I_** **still do. Don't you get it? I still** ** _like_** **you! I'm not over you, and whenever I see you, I just want to run over to you and hug you like crazy!**

Cress beside Thorne squirmed at all the gossip they were hearing, and Thorne said, "I bet you 50 univs that they end up kissing. Deal?" Cress shushed him.

 **Cinder: I already told you. My feelings have changed!** ** _I don't like you anymore!_**

Silence. Thorne and Cress looked at each other, peeked over the door's window, and immediately ducked back down. Thorne whispered, "You owe me!" and Cress slapped his arm, softly, to shut him up.

What Thorne and Cress saw was unspoken, but they both saw it. Kai holding _and_ kissing so tightly, that Cinder couldn't move at all. They didn't know if Cinder was kissing Kai back or not, but they both didn't get to know what was going to happen next, because someone tapped them on the shoulder.

Cress and Thorne turned around abruptly, and stared at who tapped on their shoulder. It was Torin. Cress looked worriedly at Thorne, but he winked at her, as if he were saying, _I got it, girl_.

"Excuse me, Mr. Throne and Miss. Moon. May I ask what you two may be doing on the floor in front of the lab's room?" Torin frowned at them.

"Well, you see, I found this trail of ants, a few days ago, before you came to this job. We were experimenting with these crumbs of bread to see if they would come again." Thorne pulled out a piece of bread that was for lunch. "See that corner over there? I found the ants there and was showing Cress today."

Cress nodded, not saying a word. They both stood up, trying to hide Kai and Cinder in the back. Thorne cleared his throat and said with a loud voice, "Well, I guess the ants aren't coming today. We'll come tomorrow, right Cress?"

"Ye-yeah! Of course. I really want to see the ants. It's very, _very_ interesting." Thorne looked surprisingly at Cress. She blushed a bright pink, and cleared her throat. It was the first time Thorne had heard Cress talk in a loud voice.

Torin nodded, looking at them, probably thinking, _Well, I guess there are students who like ants, too._ Since he just started working as a teacher, he probably had no idea that Thorne was lying to him. In the room, Thorne could hear, "We'll talk about this later," from an angry Cinder. Luckily, since Torin was already walking away, only Cress and Thorne had heard this.

Thorne sighed in relief, and raised a hand for a high-five from Cress. She awkwardly raised her hand, and slid it against Thorne's hand. Thorne frowned. "Really? You call that a high-five? Come on, do it harder."

Right when Cress was going to give her second try, the door opened, cramming Cress and Thorne into wall, in between the door. Cress froze, and so did Thorne. _Stars, she's beautiful._ But he quickly recovered, and smiled teasingly at Cress. Cress was still frozen, her hands against Thorne's chest. They stayed like this until the door behind Thorne closed, and Cinder and Kai were gaping at them.

Thorne backed away, and Cress stumbled. Thorne caught her before she fell and said, "Woah, Damsel. You okay, there? You must be flattered from my very attractive face, seeing it close up." He kept in his laughter when Cress stumbled away from him, and she was shaking her head.

"N-no, Captain. It's just that… it surprised me, and I wasn't in the right position to stand." Cress stood correctly and looked past Thorne, to look at Cinder and Kai.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you guys okay? I didn't know… wait… were you guys eavesdropping on us?!" Cinder practically screeched.

Thorne turned around and rolled his eyes. "Wow, mechanic girl. I thought you were smart enough to know that Cress and I saved your butts out here. If you were caught kissi— ". Thorne stopped when Cinder gave him a warning glare. "Anyways, apology accepted, except you interrupted our high-five?"

Cress spoke up, "I'm sorry we eavesdropped, but I promise that I will never tell anyone what happened. And neither will Captain, right?" Cress looked at Thorne expectantly. Thorne sighed.

"Yes, I promise not to tell anyone and will not talk about this to anyone except maybe you two and Cress. Now, if that meets your terms in the contract of Not-Telling-Anyone-What-Cress-And-I-Saw, we'll be on our way now." Thorne grabbed Cress's hand, and dragged her down the hallway.

"Um… Captain?"

"Yes, Damsel?"

"You and I have the same 3rd period. And it's on the other side of the building."

"Right. I know that."

"Then where are we going?"

"Wolf said he needed to talk to me, so we're going to meet him first. Don't worry, we won't be late for class."

Soon, Cress was dragged into another empty lab room, and they both saw Wolf waiting for Thorne. He looked up, and brightened when he saw Thorne, but darkened a little when he saw Cress. Thorne felt Cress squirm beside him.

"Hey, Wolf. What did you need to talk about?" Thorne was still holding Cress's hand, and pretended that he didn't know he was holding her hand.

Wolf cleared his throat. "I wanted to talk to you. _Alone_."

Cress let go of Thorne's hand and said, "Oh, sure. I-I'll be waiting outside, Captain." Cress went out of the room and soon it was quiet in the room. Wolf broke the silence.

"So, you and shorty, huh?" Wolf snickered.

"What? Oh, you're talking about Cress. No, she's just a friend," Thorne stuttered out.

Wolf rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure."

"Whatever, muscle man. What did you need to tell me?" Thorne propped himself up onto a lab table, and crisscrossed his legs. Wolf started pacing back and forth in front of Thorne. He was also biting his nails. Thorne thought it was a bit funny to see his muscle man nervous. "Well? What is it?"

"You know the girl who sat with us at lunch?" Wolf asked, still pacing.

"Um… you mean Cress?" When Wolf shook his head, Thorne said, "Winter? Scarlet?" Wolf nodded.

"Yeah, Scarlet. There's something about her, and I can't stop thinking about her. Her eyes. _Especially_ her hair." Wolf was staring at the wall as he said this.

Thorne mustered back a laugh. Then he said seriously, "Well, I think that you have a very strange seriously, "Well, I think that you have a very serious case that starts with a 'L' and ends with an 'E'."

Wolf paused his pacing. Silence. Then: "Lice?"

Thorne laughed. "No, Wolf. I'll tell you about it, but I got to go take Cress to class." Wolf shook his head.

"I've never seen you follow a girl before. Most of the time, it's the girls that are following you."

Thorne jumped off the table. "I don't know. I just have a feeling to protect her, that's all." After a second of thinking, Thorne said again, "Maybe I have the same serious case with you, just with a different person… Whatever. See you later muscle man."

Thorne walked out of the door, and saw Cress jump when he opened the door. He felt the blood drain out of his face. "C-Cress? Did you hear everything we just said?"

Cress shook her head. "No, Captain. I was just starting to get worried that we would be late to class, and was going to get you…"

Thorne sighed in relief. "Thank the stars. You're right. We should be going to class now." Thorne grabbed Cress's hand again, and started to walk down to her class.

"Captain?" Cress asked a few minutes before they got to their class.

"Yes, Damsel?"

"What do you call something when you feel your heart race every time you see a specific person?"

"I'd like to think that as love, or liking someone."

"I think I like you, Captain."

Thorne froze. Cress stumbled from the sudden stop, and Thorne caught her before she could fall. When she was standing up correctly, Thorne sighed.

"I can't believe it took you 6 hours for you to figure that out. I must be losing my touch."

Cress giggled and sighed. "I don't know, Captain. Every time I see you, I feel light headed, and I want to spend more time with you."

"Look, Cress. You're really sweet and all, but we _just_ met. I think you're misunderstanding thankfulness with liking me. You see… I've helped you a lot today, right?" Thorne looked down at her.

Cress nodded, her blue eyes wide again.

"And… you're really grateful for what I did, right?"

"Of course, Captain."

"Well…" Honestly, Thorne was having the moment of his life right now. He couldn't believe that she liked him! But… he knew that Cress deserved better, and that she _was_ probably misunderstanding thankfulness with liking someone. "I don't know, Cress. I like you, too, but you deserve a lot more than me."

Cress shook her head. "I'm fine with you, Captain. I can't be myself around anyone else because they're just so… scary. I don't know. But you're so comfortable to be around, and I keep finding myself to look for you, and I feel my heart racing whenever I see you."

Thorne was silent. Everybody around him was loud and noisy, but Cress and Thorne were in their own world, and they couldn't hear anything else.

"Um… Captain?"

"Yes, Damsel?"

"We'll be late for class if we keep staying still here."

"Right. Right. We're going right now."

They started walking again, and outside the classroom's door, Thorne said, "Look, we'll talk about this later, but think harder about whether you like me or not. I still think that you're just grateful about the things I've done to you and for you."

"Whatever Captain. Let's just get in before the bell rings. Oh, and we should do our high-five again soon," and Cress went inside.

Thorne sighed, scratched the back of his head, said, "Sure, Damsel. Sure," and followed her inside.


	4. Chapter 4

Walking home was the 2nd worst part of the day. Being home was the first. Thorne walked through the pouring rain, while everyone else was running ahead. Cress's words kept on repeating in his head, over and over again. **_"I think I like you, Captain." "I think I like you, Captain." "I think I like you, Captain." "I think I-_**

Suddenly, Thorne wasn't in the rain anymore. He looked up. Someone put an umbrella over his head. He smiled when he saw who it was. "Hey, Damsel. You walking home, too?"

Cress nodded shyly. "Yeah. You looked like you were going to freeze to death, so I decided to walk, not ride the bus home."

Thorne nodded. "Thanks, Cress. I guess I can count on you now." Cress smiled.

"Of course you can, Captain. We're friends, right? Anybody can always count on their friends."

After that, there was this thick, awkward silence between them, and when they arrived at Cress's house's doorstep, Thorne said, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Text me later, Damsel."

"'K, Captain. I'll see you tomorrow." Then, out of nowhere, Cress got on her toes, and gave Thorne a peck on the cheek. Even though it was a peck, Thorne felt electric currents rushing through him. Cress ducked her head shyly, and went inside her house.

Thorne turned around, smiling like a fool, and ran out in the rain. "Whoo-hoo!" he shouted in the rain. All thoughts about going home to see his dad and the thoughts of getting beaten were disappeared.

But that moment didn't last long.

Soon, and maybe too soon, Thorne was in front of his house. He knew that if he went in right now, his dad wouldn't be there yet, and that his stepmom would get on him for being wet. If he went to the nearby convenience store and came back later, then his dad _would_ be there, and beat him for coming home late.

He turned around and walked to the convenience store. He hated talking to his stepmom more than getting the beatings.

It was still raining when Thorne got to the store, his hear racing since he ran there. He took off his hood, and shook his wet bangs out of his eyes. Instantly, some girls nearby (and they were good-looking, too) turned towards him and started whispering behind their hands. If it was yesterday, Thorne would've winked at them and ask for their numbers before he left. Now, he just ignored them and went straight to the coffee aisle. Probably because of Cress…

He got a regular black because it was bitter like his life at home, and went to the cashier to pay for it. He then saw little barrette clippings, and again thought of Cress. He wondered how she would look with short hair.

"Um… how much are these?" Thorne held them up to the cashier.

"5 univs," he said. "Would you like to buy them?"

Thorne thought about it. "Sure."

"That's 12 univs in all."

Thorne dug into his pockets and pulled out the same amount. "Thanks," he said, and he went to a seat on the counter in front of the window. He opened his can of coffee and started to drink it, but one of the girls he saw before came to him.

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" it was a better looking girl out of the bunch, and she twirled a finger in her hair.

"Hey, I'm really sorry to bother you, but my girlfriends over there dared me to make-out with you." She bit her bottom lip.

Thorne shrugged. "That's fine with me since it was a dare."

"I don't think anyone else would be fine with it if they saw two people making-out in a store where kids could come in any moment, don't you think?" she asked him.

"Well, do you have a place in mind?" Thorne asked her. She took his hand, and started to drag him outside. Next to the door, her group of girlfriends cheered her on. Soon, they were out in the rain, and the girl was taking Thorne to an alley.

On the way there, there was a nearby house. Thorne heard lots of crashing, along with shouts that came from a man. Then, there was a terrified scream, followed by a large crash.

Suddenly, Thorne's head started to ache, and memories came out, like crashing waves on a beach during a storm.

 ** _"_** ** _You little bi**h. Where were you all day, huh? Where were you?!" Thorne's dad shouted to Thorne's mother._**

 ** _"_** ** _I was out at the market, buying some groceries for tomorrow's meal," Thorne's mother said calmly, clutching her bag of groceries. 7-year-old Thorne was hiding on top of the stairs, listening and watching their conversations downstairs._**

 ** _"_** ** _Oh really? Then how come you're SO LATE?!" At "late", Thorne's dad picked up the chair next to him and threw it to Thorne's mother. She shrieked and ducked, covering her head with her hands. The bag of groceries was on the floor, and a bag of flour was ripped open._**

 ** _On the stairs, Thorne flinched, wanting to help his mother, but too scared to do it._**

 ** _"_** ** _I'm sorry! I tried to come back as soon as possible, but I couldn't! The line for the smoked lamb was too long!" Thorne's mother backed away as Thorne's dad picked up the lamp next to him. The stench of alcohol didn't sting Thorne's nose anymore. He was so used to it._**

 ** _Another loud crash. Some glass shards cut and scratched Thorne's mother's face. Thorne's dad raised up his fist and was beating her. Thorne started to cry._**

"Um, hello? Are you okay?" the girl askekd him.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine," Thorne gasped out. He hoped the rain would cover his sweat beads forming at his forehead and neck.

The girl then pushed Thorne to the wall, and put her arms around his neck. He felt a rush of pain go through his head again. _No! Not again! Please, no!_ Thorne thought as the girl said, "Well, here goes nothing." Thorne needed something to distract himself, and the girl's lips were the only distraction around now.

He smashed his mouth right into the girl's. She froze for a second, but quickly recovered, kissing him back. The pain got only a tenth duller, and Thorne flipped the girl so that the girl's back was on the wall.

The girl's hand slipped under his shirt and skimmed over his rock-hard abs. Thorne pushed himself so close to the girl, that her was practically with the wall.

Half of half of the pain was gone, but it still hurt like crazy. His mouth trailed off from the girl's, and started to kiss her jawline. Then her neck.

Somehow, the girl got Thorne's jacket and shirt off, but Thorne couldn't feel the rain. He still felt the pain, but it was almost gone now. Just a little more time, and it'll be completely gone.

"Ca-Captain?"

Thorne froze. The girl froze, too. Thorne slowly pulled away from the girl, not reluctantly, but of horror and fear. No one else except one person called him that.

 _Cress_.

Thorne stepped away from the girl, bending down to pick up his shirt and jacket. To the girl he said, "You can go now, right? You've done your dare."

The girl nodded and walked back to the store, flipping her hair as she passed by Cress. Cress's eyes were full of hurt. Betrayal. Fear.

Thorne took a step towards Cress, and she took a step back, clutching her umbrella handle so tight that her knuckles were white.

He quickly put on his shirt and jacket and started out with, "Look, Cress. It's not what it looks like." Stupid! Of course it's what it looks like! He was kissing a girl, and she saw it! "I'm really sorry you had to see that. It's just tha-Cress? What are you doing?"

Cress ran over to Thorne, and was pulling his shirt up. Now it was Thorne that was backing away.

"Um, Cress Can I ask you wh-?"

"Shut up for a second and stand still!" Cress burst out. Thorne shut up and stood still. Cress turned Thorne over so that his back was towards Cress. She was fumbling with his shirt and jacket, and Thorne cleared his throat. "Um, Cress? What on earth are you do-?"

Cress gasped. "Ca-Captain… Wha-what's wr-wrong with you-your back?!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: READ THIS! So… yeah! Thank you guys for reading and liking this fanfic, and leaving reviews and stuff. Please leave reviews! It encourages me and inspires me that people are actually liking this!**

 **Okay, real point of the A/N: I was thinking about this, and decided that there IS a Luna. Levana was the ruler and all, but there wasn't a revolutionary. I just made this decision, and it would totally backfire my previous posts if I said there was a revolution.**

 **So here's the plan: Levana was bad and power-wanting and all. She really hated Winter and shells, ordering their deaths (shells, not Winter), but then something happened, like a vision or something, and the next day, she stopped ordering these deaths. She stepped down from her position and went down to Earth without letting anyone knowing she was Lunar. Earthens still don't like Lunars. Levana DOES use her glamour, but only to cover her burn scars and her injuries from Channary. Hope you like it! Oh, and no ports or netscreens. Just univs with the regular continents…. If you don't like anything about it… just review your opinion or stop reading it. Thanks for supporting!**

* * *

Wolf was scared for the first time in his life.

Sure, when he was little and the Lunars that kidnapped him fed him some weird drugs that made him this muscular, he was scared that time, too. But this "scared" was a different kind of scared. He was sweating buckets, he couldn't keep still, and his heart was racing.

After thinking about what Thorne said about the… very serious case that starts with a 'L' and ends with an 'E', Wolf settled that Thorne was talking about… something Wolf didn't know about.

Finally, _finally_ , Scarlet came out from the school building. It was still raining, and Wolf was waiting since an hour ago. Scarlet had detention that day. Wolf would've had detention with her, but he was scared that the serious case Thorne said would get even more serious if he did that.

Wolf got up from the bench in a hurry, and Scarlet looked at him. He felt his heart stop, and froze. Then, Scarlet said, "Um, is there something you need?"

Wolf unfroze and said, "I-um, I wanted to ask if you… you've seen my jacket? It's… gray, and… big… and…" Ughhhh. This was so not going the way it was supposed to go like. First, Wolf was supposed to offer to walk home with her, but he chickened out.

Scarlet shook her head. "Nope. You know, there's a lost and found in the school," and she walked off. Wolf noticed that she didn't have an umbrella, so he ran up to her and gave her his umbrella.

"Here. You can use this. I can run." And he ran. Fast. Wolf was getting the idea of Thorne's very serious case.

…

...Liking someone?

* * *

Cinder ran away. Kai was being too complicated. How could he say that he likes her after all that he did? After all those times he had hurt her and cheated on her, how could he say that he like her now? Cinder shook her head away from those thoughts and ran in the rain. When she arrived at her house, her android, Iko, a dark skinned, blue haired person, was waiting on the porch. Iko got up fast, waved at Cinder.

"Oh my stars, Cinder. You scared me so much! How come you didn't ride the bus home?" Iko shrieked when Cinder came onto the porch, dripping wet. Iko grabbed the towel she had out on the porch bench, and handed it to Cinder.

"Thanks, Iko. And, sorry. I missed the bus when I lost time… gathering some mechanic pieces," Cinder lied.

Iko rolled her eyes. "Cinder, you realize that you _cannot_ lie? I may not have a lying detector like you do, but you are just so bad! Come on, let's get inside and you can tell me what happened."

* * *

" _What?!_ " Iko shrieked, smiling.

"I said, Kai told me he likes me, and… he kissed me…" Cinder mustered out.

"And?! Did your lying detector thingy say that he was lying?!"

Cinder stayed quiet and pretended that she was too concentrated on fixing Iko's broken hand. "Oh my stars. It didn't go off, did it?" Iko stopped moving. Cinder still didn't say anything and kept on working on Iko's hand.

Truth was… it didn't go off. "Kai still doesn't know that I'm a cyborg, and it might change if he knows," Cinder said.

"Aces, Cinder! How can you miss this opportunity?! It's _Kai_! The freaking school's director's son!" Iko screamed.

"Yeah, but do you know how hurt I was?! Do you know how many times I felt like crying myself to sleep because of _Kai_ the freaking school's director's son?!" Cinder burst out. If her eyes _did_ let her cry, she would be crying right now.

Silence. Then: "Stars, I'm sorry Cinder. I do know how you feel about him… but the lying detector didn't go off, right? So maybe you can make up with him. Unless you really don't like him. You can introduce me to him, right?"

Cinder couldn't help hiding her laughter. "Of course, Iko. Of course."

* * *

" _Help… Help…! Help!_ " Winter jumped up. She was on the couch, Jacin sitting next to her, sleeping, and the T.V still playing the movie they had agreed to watch.

This was _not_ happening. But it was. She felt the ice crawling up her toes. "C-cold. I-I'm going to die."

Jacin woke up in a start, and looked at Winter. She was shivering, the frost reaching her knees now. Jacin cuddled next to her, pulling the blanket around her. "Shhh, it's alright. It's alright. I'm right here."

"It's so co-cold." The frost was going up across her torso now.

"It's not real, Winter. I got you. It's alright. You're not going to die. I'm right here."

Suddenly, the frost was melting. Winter stopped shivering. "Ja-Jacin?" Her words weren't broken because of the cold now.

"Yes, Princess?" Jacin said, calling her the nickname they both made up when they were young. He got a handkerchief and wiped her sweat off. She looked up at him. They were so close now. If only she lifted her chin up, then their lips would touch.

"Jacin Clay, there's an assassin under the couch," she whispered. Jacin smiled. Long before her stepsister, Levana, was the principal of the school and was the ruler of the moon Luna, Jacin had been a personal guard of Winter. Guards were supposed to do their work, and "protect you and keep you out of trouble, and that's it" as Jacin called it. For Jacin to come into her room, she had to say that there was an assassin under her bed.

The frost was down to her ankle now. "Stars, you're beautiful," Jacin muttered, as he bent down and kissed her. The frost was gone now.

* * *

Thorne turned around in a hurry. Cress was shaking and shivering, but not from the cold. What she saw was horrifying. The bruises… the scars… What _were_ they from? No, she can't get too personal in this. Just act. "W-what w-as th-that? C-Captain?"

"Nothing. It's nothing. Get your umbrella. You're freezing," was Thorne's reply. He bent down and got her umbrella, trying to cover her from the rain, but Cress shook her head. Her long locks were weighing her head down.

"No, Captain! I-I saw that! T-tell me what happened! I-I'm not going anywhere until you explain!" Cress shouted. She was shaking, pretending to be mad.

Thorne sighed. "Cress, sweetheart, you're freezing. Let's go inside somewhere, like a nearby café or something, maybe a hotel room, so there's more privacy. Then I'll tell you. Please." The burn of her tears stung her eyes, and she let them fall. Good. Pretend to be sad.

"Bu-but, d-don't you ne-need to go to the d-doctor for t-that? Are-Aren't you h-hurt?" Cress cried out. She hated being like this. Why was she doing this mission anyways? _It's for Dad, Cress. Don't give up._

"I'm fine, Cress. I'm not hurt. It doesn't hurt anymore! It was all in the past, and it doesn't hurt anymore." Thorne stepped towards her. She didn't move. "Please, Cress. You're still shaking. Your face is pale. You're freezing. Let's go somewhere warm. I don't want you to get hurt anymore from me."

Cress shook her head again. "I know why you told me that. Why you told me to reconsider my feelings about you. It was because of her, wasn't it? The girl you were ki-kissing." Cress choked out the last word for special effect. Think: _You're a lonely, scared girl that just saw the guy she likes kissing someone else._

Thorne groaned. "No, Cress. Please. It's not because of that. I don't even _know_ that girl. It was a dare. Please, let's get inside before you get sick." Thorne grabbed her wrist and started to pull her out of the alley.

* * *

When they arrived in the hotel lobby, people were staring at them because they were dripping wet and Cress was crying. Cress squirmed from the whole attention thing. She can't drop her act just because she's outside of school

Luckily, there was a fireplace with a small table for two people in the lobby. Thorne dragged Cress there, and said, "Wait here." He went to the front desk and said some stuff, then came back with two towels. One for him, one for her.

Cress dried herself with the towel, and she was so grateful for the warm fire. She stayed like that for a while; eyes closed, towel over her shoulder, the warmth gradually calming her down.

But when she opened them again she saw Thorne, and all the calmness turned to panic. Why did he have to look so attractive? Why can't he just be some ugly guy to make this mission a whole lot easier? What kind of stories were Cress going to have to listen and attempt to cry to? She closed her eyes again, and tried to block the current situation out.

Thorne cleared his throat. Cress opened her eyes. He looked uncomfortable. "Um… should we go to the room? It's just gonna take a few minutes, but it's kinda private…" Cress, still going with her mad act, nodded her head without looking at him.

Cress followed behind Thorne to the elevator, and then they were in front of the room. Thorne opened the door and they stepped into a medium sized room. There was a desk with a computer on the right side, and a small bed on the left corner. Cress flicked on the lights, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Tell me what those were, Captain. What happened?" Cress really didn't know. She didn't read anything about him getting beat up in his profile Mistress Sybil gave her. The real question was… Was Thorne going to tell her the truth or just lie?

Thorne sighed and ran his hand through his wet-ish hair. He pulled out the chair from the desk and sat down in front of her. "Are you sure you want to know? Just know that my past isn't all rainbows and unicor— "

"Oh my stars, Captain. Just get to the point," Cress interrupted him, feeling impatient. Thorne looked surprised from Cress's outburst so she added, "Please?"

Thorne rubbed his hand on his chin, looking at his lap. Suddenly he looked up. "My dad… he's… an abusive father. Ever since I was little… he-he would…" His blue eyes started to glitter. Cress let her eyes go wide, just like she had practiced in the mirror this morning. Who would've known that she would have gotten along with Thorne on the first day. Mistress Sybil was going to be thrilled.

Thorne gulped and continued. "He would… beat my m-mother, and all I could do was w-wa-tch…" He was full out crying now. So was Cress. Her head dropped and she started crying, half acting, half real. The tears slipped down fast and quietly. "She ran away. She r-ran multiple times, b-but always g-got caught. Finally, she ran away for real. She tried to get me to follow her, but I was too s-sc-cared."

Cress put her face in her hands. "S-stop. Y-you don't h-have to g-go on anymore."

But Thorne didn't stop. "When my dad found out… he would be-beat me. Th-the scars are f-from w-when he w-would throw p-picture f-frames a-and the b-bruises are r-recent— "

"My stars, I said stop!" Cress cried out. Thorne froze. "I get it, okay? You don't have to say it anymore!" she shouted more. She looked up from her hands. Thorne's eyes were red, and they were full of tears. Hurt. Fear. She wondered how her face looked like. Red, puffy eyes. Red face, red nose. She probably looked horrible.

Suddenly, he stood up, knocking his chair over. He went over to her and hugged her. "I-I'm sorry, Cress. I told you it wasn't going to be rainbows and unicorns. I just needed to get that out of my system. I didn't think that I would go that deep into detail." Cress continued to cry in his shoulder. _Okay. This is good. Make him trust you,_ she thought to herself.

He backed away and dried his tears. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hug you like that." Silence. Then: "Aces, I need to go. My dad_I mean; I need to go. I'll see you later." He walked out of the room, leaving Cress alone in the room.

Stars. She tried to comprehend the words Thorne just said to her. His dad was… abusive? The proud, boastful, playboy Carswell Thorne's father was an abusive father? No wonder he wasn't what his profile described him as today. Sort of. He was a little upbeat with Cress, but she remembered what Scarlet said: **_"_** ** _Well, what do you know? Our very own Captain Thorne is almost back to himself again, just like how he was 5 years ago."_**

5 years ago… Was Thorne's father in jail or something? Cress had no idea, and she couldn't go out and ask him now. Throne mentioned his father, so she guessed that he gets… beaten if he comes home late.

Her phone rang. She got it out of her pocket, and groaned when she saw who it was. **_Mistress Sybil_**. She answered automatically, starting with, "How are you Mistress?"

"Fine, Crescent. Anything with Thorne?" she asked Cress.

"Yes. I've gotten him to trust me completely Mistress. I'll have him soon Mistress." Cress gulped. What would happen if Thorne was brought to Luna?

"Good job, Crescent. Just remember: you _have_ to get him to follow you, and then your mission will be done. Your father will be completely healed and sent back to Earth, and we'll get you your own place. You will never have to worry about anything ever again. Remember that. Understood Crescent?"

Silence. Then: "Yes, Mistress."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the late update! Was so busy with other stuff and couldn't think of any ideas. Oh, and Wolf is Lunar. :)**

* * *

"Get to your room mister."

Dmitri Erland was in the prison corridor, opening his eyes when the prison guard talked to him. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'll be going now." Erland stood up and bowed his head to the guard, and walked to his room.

If anybody came in and saw his room, they would think it was just an ordinary bedroom in an ordinary Luna house. A bed in the corner, a bookshelf in another, a closet door next to the bedroom door, a desk right next to the bookshelf, and a window behind the bed.

But this was _not_ an ordinary bedroom in an ordinary Luna house. In fact, it was a room in a prison. The window was fake. The bed was fake. The books in the bookshelves were fake. And there was nothing in the closet. This was just an act. The only real thing in the room, was a rock for his pillow, and the desk with some paper and pencils.

His door opened. Erland turned around to see a prison guard coming inside with a laptop in his hand. "Your daughter is Skyping you. I'll be outside. Just remember we can hear everything here." Erland nodded, and took the laptop, placing it on the desk.

He sat down in his chair and answered the call. "H-hey, Dad? How's it going?" she asked, trying to blink her tears away. But Erland could see the tears before they were blinked away.

He smiled as strong as he could muster, but it even felt weak to him. "My little Crescent Moon. I'm fine. What about school? I heard Mistress Sybil sent you to an Earthen school. Was it fun?"

Crescent smiled. "It was fun. Everybody was nice, especially this guy. I'm guessing we're friends?" She said it as a question, not a statement, which told him that it was Thorne she was talking about.

"Oh really? What's his name?" he asked.

He saw Crescent hesitate before she answered, "His name is Carswell Thorne. He was really nice and everything." He let his eyes get wide, and reached behind the computer to get some paper and a pencil. Erland started to write:

 **The Lunars here are recording everything we say. They can't see the video feed, but they can still hear us.**

Crescent nodded and said, "So, did you eat yet? I haven't and I'm starving. Can you wait while I go make a sandwich? I'll be right back." She stood up and started walking in place. She must have taken after her mother, being so clever. She got her notebook, and wrote something. She turned it around. It said:

 **Do you know about Carswell Thorne?**

Erland nodded. **Whatever you do, don't bring him to Luna. I know that you're working for the Lunars to get me out of her. Don't worry about me. I'm fine, really.**

Crescent shook her head, her eyes starting to glisten. **Dad, I can't just leave you there! Plus, if I don't bring him, they'll possibly kill you and me! Thorne is just a stranger. He doesn't mean anything for you and me. Why do you care? I could get you out of here!**

This time, Erland felt his eyes sting a bit. **My Crescent… I know you. You are a very strong person, but you can't just use someone, no matter how much of a stranger he is. FOCUS! The Lunars could be using you too. They could be lying to you about freeing me. Run. Don't worry about me. Pack everything you can, and run. If you're such a good hacker, use those skills and make a new I.D. Run.**

Crescent stood up. "Sorry, Dad. That took long, right? But I got a lot of homework and school stuff to catch up with. I'll call you again next time."

He nodded. "I understand, Crescent. Just remember… I love you no matter what, okay? If you make a wrong decision, I understand. And I will always love you."

Crescent nodded, and wiped the flowing tears off from her cheeks. "I know. And I love you too. I'll try to Skype you as soon as possible. I love you, Dad."

The call ended. Erland sat still for a second, then started crumbling all the papers he had just written on, hiding it underneath his shirt. Then he called out, "The call's over. You can come get it now." The guard came in and took the laptop. "Thank you." Erland whispered as the guard shut the door behind him.

"Run, Crescent. Run."

* * *

The second day of school was quiet. For Cress at least. Thorne wasn't there, which was bad for Mistress Sybil, and good for Cress. She was afraid all morning, about the thick awkwardness there would be between them.

"Hey, where's Thorne?" Scarlet asked lunch, sitting next to Cress.

Cress shrugged and said in a quiet voice, "I didn't see him this morning."

Winter twirled her hair around her finger. "You know… Thorne… whenever he's out for one day, it normally lasts for a week. Have you ever noticed that?"

Jacin nodded. "Yeah. And whenever he's back, he doesn't talk for at least two days. But he's never himself. Until you came." He said the last part to Cress.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Whatever. He's probably out there with a girl or something."

Cress frowned and thought about the last thing he said last night.

 ** _Aces, I need to go. My dad_I mean; I need to go. I'll see you later._**

Was he getting beaten up right now? Or… he got beaten so bad that the bruises were still…

Cress shook her head. What was she doing? She wasn't worrying about him… was she? No, it wasn't possible. She didn't like Thorne. In fact, she was wishing that he would just follow her to the train station to Mistress Sybil. Then, she would see her father.

Yes. That's what she has to do. She stabbed the fork angrily at her salad, thinking of Throne.

"Um… Cress? Are you okay? You don't have to murder your food to eat… do you?" Wolf asked her.

She looked up and blushed as hard as she could. Stars, why did Mistress Sybil have to choose such a hard personality to act out. "I_I thought of something I didn't like for a second. Sorry."

Wolf looked at her weirdly. "You don't have to apologize about it."

Cress tried to blush hard again, and failed. Getting Thorne would mean less of this torture. That was it. She would get Thorne to Mistress Sybil, no matter what.

"Iko! What are you doing?!" Cinder whisper/shouted.

"What? I'm going to talk to Kai. Is that against the law or something?" Iko asked.

Cinder groaned. " _No_ , but I would like it if you would just sit down and stop drawing attention to yourself?!"

Iko rolled her eyes. "It's _fine_ , Cinder. I'm not going to talk about you, I just need to ask him about a homework question. I'll be right back!" She waved and left before Cinder could say anything back.

"You could've asked _me_?" Cinder murmured under her breath. She tried to keep calm.

 **BLOOD PRESSURE RISING 86%**

 **HEART RATE RISING 55%**

Cinder groaned and pretended that she was eating lunch. She could feel the eyes on her back, and thanked the stars once again for the disability to blush.

When Iko came back and sat in front of her, Cinder kicked her in the leg. "Ow!" Iko yelped. "What was that for?!"

Cinder glared at her. "What did you talk with to him about?" she said through clenched teeth.

Iko shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. Just some math questions…"

"And…?" Cinder said, waiting for Iko to finish.

"And… if he wanted to come over this Friday at our house."

"IKO!"


	7. Chapter 7

**_Wednesday:_**

Thorne wasn't at school today. Cress wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel. Happy? Relieved? Worried? Sad? Cress groaned at herself. Please. Why should she be sad? Worried maybe, because that would mean less time to get Throne to Luna. And getting Thorne to Luna in a short period of time, that would mean seeing her father in person faster.

Wolf frowned. "Thorne's not here again? Shoot. I needed to talk to him. He's not answering his calls or replying to his texts. Anyone got in touch with Thorne?"

Everyone shook their head. "It's the same rotation again. I bet you 15 univs that he'll come back next Monday. Deal?" Scarlet asked, looking at everyone. Jacin was the only person that nodded and shook hands with Scarlet. Wolf seemed to freeze when Jacin and Scarlet shook on it. _Does Wolf like Scarlet?_ Cress thought to herself.

Winter rolled her eyes. "It's obvious that Scarlet's going to win. If you ever counted the numbers of days he's been out and back, Scarlet is definitely going to win."

Jacin looked at Winter suspiciously. "How do you know what days Thorne has been out or not? Were you counting the days?"

Winter shrugged, looking at her drink. "Maybe."

Wolf grunted. Scarlet beamed. Jacin scowled. Winter smiled. Cress frowned. Where was Thorne?

 ** _Thursday:_**

Again, Thorne wasn't at school. Cress felt lonely without him. Wolf wasn't _that_ friendly with her. Scarlet was a bit too hard-headed for Cress's fake personality. Winter and Jacin were just too… together for Cress to talk to. She sighed and looked around the classroom.

There was Cinder. But they didn't even talk after the eavesdropping incident outside of the science lab. Same for Kai. Of course, Kai was good looking, his Asian features making him look even better, but he just wasn't her standard. She couldn't stand hearing the other girls talk about him.

That day after school, Mistress Sybil called her. She answered automatically, saying, "Good afternoon, Mistress Sybil. How are you doing?"

"What's been going on with Thorne? I haven't heard anything from you from the past two days. Anything happening?" Mistress Sybil ignored her greeting.

Cress stuttered. "Um… well… the thing is…"

"What? Did something happen? Crescent tell me right now!" she yelled into the phone.

"Well," Cress started. "It's not anything serious. It's just that Thorne hasn't come to school for a few days so I wasn't able to do anything with him ma'am."

She heard a sigh of relief from the other side. "Well, you know where he lives, don't you? Go to his house and see him. You _have_ to convince him to come with you to the train station downtown. Understood? Go there tomorrow, right after school. If you keep stalling time like this, you might never see your dad again."

She hung up. Cress removed the phone from her ear with shaking hands and tears started to burn her eyes. "Argh!" Cress yelled, throwing her phone on the bed. She stood up screaming, her hands balled in fists next to her sides. Cress turned to her desk, picked up a flower pot and threw it to the ground. It shattered all over the floor. Then she collapsed back onto her chair.

"D-dad… W-what should I d-do? W-what do I d-do?!" She started to sob in her hands. **Run. Don't worry about me. Pack everything you can, and run. If you're such a good hacker, use those skills and make a new I.D. Run.**

Cress stood up. Thorne. She had to find him. She had to listen to her dad. She had to run away.

She shook her head. No. What on earth was she doing? She _had_ to save her dad. Before anything happens. Before anything happens to both of them.

 ** _Friday:_**

"Ikoooo. Why? Why? Why?! Did you have to ask him over?!" Cinder yelled at her while changing her outfit again.

Iko shrugged. "Because I wanted to. And because I totally ship you two!" Iko laughed. "It's going to be amazing. Don't worry. I'll be there too you know."

Cinder shivered at the thought of Kai sitting on her couch, and Iko trying to get them to talk. "Can't you cancel it? Please, Iko. For my sake!"

Iko smiled. "Then that's not fair for me. I want to see him too. It's not just you that's falling for him."

Cinder shook her head. "I'm not falling for him. I'm just… confused. That's all."

Iko rolled her eyes this time. "But Cinderrr. I thought you loved me! If you truly love me, you wouldn't care if Kai came over or not."

Cinder sighed. "Of course I love you Iko, but after what Kai did to me— "Cinder stopped. "Never mind. What I'm saying is… I'm not comfortable with Kai. If he comes over, just know that I'll be in my room doing homework. I will _not_ see him." Cinder crossed her arms, determined to keep her word.

* * *

"Hey Cinder. How's it going?" Kai asked her cautiously.

Inside, Cinder groaned. "I'm fine."

A moment of silence. Then:

"Oh hey guys! Cinder, you came out of your room?" Iko came out from the kitchen, holding three cups of something. "I thought you were going to come out sooner or later so I got you some orange juice. You want it?"

Cinder nodded, her face on fire. "Sure, thanks." She took a careful seat on the couch, and even though this was her house, it felt like someone else's.

Iko gave one of the cups to Kai, and flopped down onto the couch, in between Cinder and Kai. Iko handed Cinder a cup. "Oh shoot. I forgot. I had some homework to do. I'll be back after I'm done." She stood up and went back into her room.

Cinder sighed inside. Kai laughed. "How did you get such a personality chip again?" Cinder froze. Kai stopped laughing. The first time she told him about how she got Iko was on our first date. In the past.

Kai coughed. "Um… you know. About the conversation we had last time, I was wondering if we could finish—"

"No. Of course not," Cinder said firmly. "Except…"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "I mean… I think you owe me an apology." She stuck her chin up a bit. "About the kiss." Cinder hoped it was her imagination about her voice waving on the last word.

Kai cleared his throat. Drank some juice out of the cup. Cleared his throat again. "What if I'm not sorry for it?" he finally said.

Cinder looked up at him, startled. "What?"

"What if I'm not sorry?" He looked at me. A small smile appeared on his face. Cinder gulped and tried to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth. "Look, I know you probably hate me for cheating on you with Peony, but—"

"Shut up!" Cinder said, standing up abruptly. Kai flinched. "I told you, I don't want to talk about it. And don't you dare say Peony's name. You can find the front door yourself, right?"

She was about to walk to her room, but Kai grabbed her by the wrist. "No, listen to me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt both of you like that… It's just that I felt bad, and I knew she was _dying_ — "

Cinder fell on her knees, her legs losing the strength to stand up. "Please. Stop talking about her. She—she— " Cinder wanted to cry. "She doesn't deserve me talking about her. I _can't_ like you. F—for her."

* * *

Cress was crazy.

She was sure about that. If not, why was she in front of Thorne's house's front door? She took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds, she heard someone coming to the door. When the door opened, she smiled shyly. "Um. Hi? I'm Cap—Carswell's friend, Cress. I was supposed to give him make-up work to him. Is that alright?" she asked to the lady that opened the door.

The lady smiled. "Hello, Cress. I haven't seen a friend of Carswell's in a while. Do you want to come inside?"

Cress nodded. "Thank you."

Cress walked in, looking around her. The house itself was fine. There was a white sofa in the living room, with a flat-screen television, and a coffee table in front of the sofa. Cress took a seat on the sofa. There was something missing, though. There was a feeling of loneliness in the house.

There weren't any pictures of anyone or anything in the house.

The lady came over with a glass of water, setting it down onto the coffee table. Cress saw a row of scars all over the lady's arm. She barely swallowed back her gasp.

"Water is all we have right now. I keep forgetting to go get groceries." The lady smiled; her eyes were screaming for sleep.

Cress smiled and said, "Thank you. Water is fine… Could I go see Carswell?"

The lady frowned. "Well, I don't know if that's a good idea. He's normally in a bad mood whenever I go up to see him. Maybe he's different with his friends."

"How are you and Carswell related? I mean, it's just that he doesn't look like you a lot," Cress asked.

The lady looked surprised. "Well, I'm his stepmother. Did he not tell you? Well, I guess he doesn't really want to talk about me that much." She sighed. "You can go see Carswell right now if you want. You don't need to talk to me."

Cress blushed. "Oh, well, then I'll see him for a minute. Where is his room?"

"Last room on the right on the second floor. And Cress?"

Cress turned around. "Carswell… I don't think he knows this… but I love him very much. As much as I would with my own child. Can you… tell him that?" Cress nodded.

"Of course."

"Thank you, Cress. Please be a good friend to him. He… he's going through hard things, nowadays."

Cress nodded and went up the stairs. Still no pictures found around the house. When she was in front of Thorne's bedroom door, she paused. What was Thorne going to say? What was _she_ going to say? She didn't have any make-up work for him. Maybe… that she missed him? What if he got mad?

She knocked on the door. "Captain? It's Cress. Can I come in?"

No answer. "Captain? Hello?" She knocked on the door again. "Captain! I'm coming inside." Cress opened the door.

His room was very neat. There was nothing on the floor, not even a speckle of dust. The bed was made, the desk was organized, the closet door was closed. But Thorne was nowhere in sight.

 _Click_.

Cress turned around, and fell when she saw what was behind her. The lady that had brought her inside was holding a gun and was aiming it at Cress.

"You—Thorne likes you more than me. I—I have to kill you so Thorne will like me more," she said in a shaky voice.

Cress gaped at the lady. Wasn't she his stepmom?

The lady grasped the gun tightly and said, "Any last words?"

Cress felt the burn of the tears on the back of her eyes. "I—I love you Dad. I always will." Cress closed her eyes and waited for the gunshot to come.


	8. Chapter 8

_BOOM!_

Cinder looked up, and saw Iko burst from her room. Iko looked at what was in front of her and sighed.

Kai opened his mouth and said to Cinder, "Please, Cinder. Don't do this. Peo—your sister wouldn't want this to happen to you. Please. You deserve more than this."

Iko shook her head, and looked at Kai. "Kai, could you leave us for a second? I need to talk to Cinder. It's an emergency homework question, and its math. Math. You understand, right? You can go in my room." Then, Iko walked to Cinder and pulled her up. Kai nodded, and walked out towards her room.

"Cinder, please do not tell me that you just had a mental breakdown in front of _Kai_. Look, I know everything about Peony, too. But, like Kai said, she wouldn't want this happening to you. No matter how much she likes Kai. Please, just _give_ him a chance?" Iko begged.

Cinder shook her head. "No, you know I can't do that. Peony… it was more than a celebrity crush. And you know that."

Iko started to laugh. Laugh! "Oh my stars, Cinder. You though Peony like Kai, like, like him, like him? No! She was just having a little bit of fun. Fun before… you know. She dies."

Cinder shook her head again. "No… Don't talk about Peony that way! You don't know her like me! Peony—she was my _sister_. You're just an android! You wouldn't understand anything!" Iko's eyes widened, and Cinder slapped her hand onto her mouth.

"I—Iko. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking right. You—you know I didn— "Cinder started.

"Oh, sure. Just because I'm an android, I don't go through feelings like anger, or sadness, or happiness. I'm just a piece of junk. Why did you even go through fixing me again? Forget it. I'm leaving." Iko walked to her room, and Cinder started to follow her.

"No, Iko! I didn't mean that! I was really angry, and—you know I didn't mean that! I'm basically the same thing _as_ an android!" Iko opened her door, and stopped in a halt.

Cinder bumped into her, and gasped. There was _Kai_ , sitting on Iko's chair, his mouth wide open.

Iko stuttered, "I—Kai… Listen— "

Kai stood up abruptly. "I—I should go now. Thanks for inviting me though. I'll—I'll see you in class tomorrow."

He hurriedly left the room, and Iko sighed. Cinder clenched her fists next to her side and kicked the bedroom door. Things were _not_ good.

* * *

 _Ding dong_.

Wolf jumped up from the couch and made way to the front door. When he opened the door, he wished he could shut it right back.

There stood Scarlet, her crazy red hair waving from the wind. She was holding 2 boxes of pizza, where the box said **Benoit's Pizza**.

It took a moment for Wolf to find his voice, and when he did, he said, "Uh—Can I help you?"

"Someone order some pizza from Benoit's Pizza?" she asked.

Wolf frowned. "Uh… I don't know. I'll ask Thorne."

Scarlet raised her eyebrows. "Thorne's here? How does he look? No bruises on his arms or anywhere? He always had some form of bruises somewhere."

"I didn't see any on his face. Come in and you'll see yourself," Wolf said.

Scarlet nodded in thanks and followed behind Wolf. Wolf cursed himself for not cleaning up the house more when he realized how disorganized it was. There were gym clothes hanging from chairs, soda bottles on the floor (Thorne!), half-eaten potato chip bags (Thorne again), and school work papers. Wolf turned into a deep shade of red, and started to pick up the papers. Thorne was lounging on sofa, watching Mission Impossible, munching on another bag of chips. Sometimes, Wolf wondered how Thorne was able to maintain a healthy body.

"Sorry for the mess. It isn't usually this messy…" Wolf muttered to Scarlet.

Scarlet waved off the apology. "It's fine. I'm pretty sure over half of this is Thorne." Thorne looked up when he heard Scarlet's voice, and grinned openly.

"Hey Scarlet! You got my pizza?" he asked, looking at the pizza boxes.

Scarlet rolled her eyes and put the boxes on top of the coffee table. "That's 20 univs. Got 'em?"

Thorne shook his head. "It's on Wolf." He laughed when he saw Wolf's perplexed face, and opened the pizza box, pulling out a cheesy piece of pepperoni pizza. "Mmmm," Thorne said, taking a big bite.

Wolf sighed, and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. He handed Scarlet the 20 univs, and she counted them to make sure she had the right amount.

When she was sure she had all 20, she smiled, and said, "Thanks. Well, I guess I'll be going now." Before Wolf could ask her out to a movie, she turned around and started walking towards the door. Then she turned around, and said to Thorne, "Oh yeah. I heard Cress was heading over to your house to give you your missing work. Shouldn't you go and wait for her?"

Thorne suddenly dropped the pizza slice, and stood up, picking up his jacket as he did so. "Shoot! Oh my stars, _Cress_."

"What? What's wrong? Thorne?" Scarlet asked him. But he didn't answer back. Instead, he ran out the door, putting on his jacket. Wolf looked at Scarlet. Scarlet looked at Wolf. They both nodded followed Thorne out the door.

* * *

 _BANG!_

The gunshot echoed inside Cress' ears, and she squeezed her eyes shut. But nothing hit her.

 _Thud!_

Cress opened her eyes. The lady holding the gun was on the floor, gun a few feet away from Cress. She tripped over herself as she tried to stand up, and landed on Thorne's bed. She saw a dark and masked figure at the doorway, holding a stick. He dropped it, and he came towards him.

Cress screamed.

It was a scream anyone could've imagined, a high-pitch "girly scream". The man at the doorway stopped, and Cress saw hurt in his eyes.

The man put down his mask.

Cress gasped.

"Ju—Julian?"

He smiled sadly. "Hey Crescent. How's it going? Or is it Cress now?"

"Bu—But how? I thought you were— "

"Dead?" he answered for her.

She nodded, afraid that her voice would falter.

He sighed. "Look, I'll explain everything I can afterwards, but for now, let's get out of here. You're not hurt or anything?" He walked towards her, but stopped when Cress flinched.

Cress nodded again, and stood up. She looked at the lady on the floor. "She's not dead, is she?" Cress whispered.

Julian shook his head. "Of course not. Just temporarily out for now. May even have a concussion, I'm not sure. But let's get out of here."

He took her wrist, and bent down to pick up the gun. "I'll keep this for now. I think she has a delusional jealousy disorder, but instead with her spouse, it's with his son."

Cress shivered. It must have been horrible for Thorne to live with this kind of stepmother.

"I called 911 just in case something happened, but luckily nothing did. Let's go." Julian led the way out to the front door.

Just when they stepped out of the front door, two trucks, a red one and a black one, pulled up to the driveway. Cress froze.

The person who came out of the red truck was not any random person. He was Thorne. Cress had never seen Thorne this disorientated in any picture she's seen him in. For once, his hair was not used with a product, he wasn't wearing his leather jacket but a sports jacket, and his shoes were mismatched. One was his, and the other one was a bigger size than his regular shoe size.

Cress managed to choke down a giggle when she saw his shoes, but she felt Julian tense up beside her.

The two people who came out of the black truck was Scarlet and Wolf. Cress was surprised to see the both of them together, since Wolf was a nervous wreck beside her, but she dismissed the thought. It's not like she was in their business.

"Cress?"

She saw Thorne come up to her, watching Julian warily. "What are you doing here? At my house? Have you seen— "

Julian put up a hand to stop Thorne. "Yes, she's fine, even after seeing _her_." Julian spat out the last word like he was spitting. "I think you've already done enough harm to her. I'll take her home, and you can go see your _stepmother_."

Thorne's hands balled into two shaking fists. "Legal guardian," he growled.

When did Julian become this protective of her? The question disappeared from her mind when he pulled her to a blue convertible on the side of the street. Her eyes grew big, and this time, she wasn't acting her awe. It was the first time she's seen an expensive car in real life. Julian opened the passenger seat for her, and she slid into the leather seats. He walked over to the driver's seat, and started the engine. The car roared to life, and Cress put on her seatbelt, gripping the seat's armrest tightly.

Julian sped out of the road, and Cress saw Thorne kick his front door from the side mirror. She sighed. What trouble did she end up in this time?


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey everyone! I first want to say thank you for all the reviewers and readers who have read this fanfic and left reviews! Please leave reviews! They make my day :D I wanted to start Chapter 9 with Thorne's POV of Chapter 8. Enjoy!**

 **~ 3pj**

Thorne pressed harder on the gas pedal, going 5 miles harder than higher than the speed limit. Cress! Why did she have to go to his house? His stepmom was most likely at home, and that would mean—

 _SCREECH!_

Thorne slammed his right foot on the brakes. The car in front of him had stopped suddenly. Thorne, groaned, his impatience growing. He honked the horn for a good bit, and drove around the car. When he checked the rear-view mirror, Thorne's heart leapt up to his throat. That person in the car… That girl…

Thorne shook his head, focusing on the road in front of him. It couldn't be her. It couldn't _possibly_ be her. She left this place years ago.

She left _him_ years ago. It couldn't be her. No, it wasn't her.

But no matter how many times he told himself, memories came to his head. Holding hands under the lunch table. Sneaking out the back school doors to have some fun. Cuddling under blanket on the couch. Her green eyes staring up at him. And her panic attacks. They would be so severe that she couldn't move at all.

Thorne was about to make a U-turn, but remembered Cress. He groaned, and called 911 on his cell.

"Hello, may I h— "

"I'm at Walter Valley Street, and there's a car that's not moving. I think the driver has a panic attack. Can you help please? Thanks." Thorne hung up, his grip on the steering wheel tightly. It couldn't be her.

Thorne made a sharp right turn, turning into his street. Forget the speed limit; he drove 10 miles above speed limit, and saw his house.

What he saw made him glare in suspicion.

There was Cress and a guy, a few years older than her, holding her wrist. Thorne turned into his driveway, and got out, slamming the door behind him. Thorne heard a car pull up behind him, and guessed that Wolf and Scarlet followed him. He saw Cress trying to keep back a laugh, but Thorne had no idea why she would laugh right now.

"Cress?"

Thorne come up to her, watching the guy warily. "What are you doing here? At my house? Have you seen— "

The guy put up a hand to stop Thorne. "Yes, she's fine, even after seeing _her_." He spat out the last word. Thorne glared at the guy. "I think you've already done enough harm to her. I'll take her home, and you can go see your _stepmother_."

Thorne's hands balled into two shaking fists. "Legal guardian," Thorne growled.

Who was this guy that was so protective of Cress? The guy pulled Cress to a blue convertible and opened the passenger seat for Cress. She got into the seat, and he went to the driver's seat. The car roared to life, and he pulled out of the driveway.

Thorne let out a frustrated sigh, and put his hands on his hips, pacing back and forth from the door to the yard. Then, out of frustration, he kicked the front door, and shouted something unsavory.

Wolf and Scarlet walked up to Thorne slowly, afraid what might happen if they approached him too fast. "Um… Thorne? Who was that guy with Cress? And why are you so angry? Is something wrong?" Scarlet asked.

Thorne's cell phone rang. He declined it. The call came again, and Thorne answered it this time. "Hello?" he asked, his words soaked with annoy.

"Hello, this is Hearts Hospital. A call came this afternoon a few minutes ago, saying that a car was not moving in the middle of the road, and that the driver seemed to have a panic attack. It appears that you were the person that called. Is that correct?"

Thorne gulped. "Yes, that was me. Is something wrong?"

"Fortunately, the driver is fine, but a guardian has to come and sign their documents. Sadly, we could not come with contact with the driver's guardian, and you were the only one who knew about it. We were wondering if you were or are her guardian right now?"

Thorne froze. What was he going to say? _I am her ex-boyfriend? Does that count as a guardian?_ "Yes, I'm her boyfriend," he finally answered.

The lady's voice on the other side brightened up. "Wonderful! Do you have time now to come and sign her documents as her guardian?"

Thorne sighed. "Yes, I'll come right away. Thank you."

He hung up and looked at Wolf and Scarlet. He gave them an apologetic look. "Look, I'll try to explain later, but right now something came up and it's sort of urgent. I was wondering if maybe you could look after my stepmom for a little…"

Scarlet nodded. "Of course. But promise to explain everything when you get back. If you don't, you don't know what might happen in your bed tonight," she threatened.

Thorne managed a weak smile. "Thanks Scarlet. You're the best. You too, Wolf." And Thorne went back into his truck, going over speed limits the third time that day.

* * *

Thorne paused at the doorway of the emergency room at the hospital. What would happen if she saw him? Would she remember him at all? What if it wasn't her? What if he was being paranoid and it actually wasn't her?

Thorne sighed and ran a hand through his head. Then he saw his shoes. One was his, but the other was Wolf's. So that was why Cress had been trying—and failing—to keep her laugh in. She was messing him up, mentally and physically.

He took a deep breath, and went through the automatic doors. Instantly, sanitation smells came rushing to him. He cringed at the sight of blood and other bandages, and made his way between beds to see which bed chart said _panic attack_.

He finally saw it. _Panic Attack_. But it was a different name. _Linh Cinder_. Cinder? The mechanic Cinder? She has panic attacks?

"CINDER!" a voice cried from behind. Thorne turned his head around and saw Kai running towards the bed. He also saw Iko- a face he saw in class- stand up from next to Cinder's bed. Guess they found her guardian after all.

Thorne sighed in relief, his hand going through his messed up hair. Just as he was about to go back out the door, a voice asked from behind him, "Excuse me?"

Thorne turned around. A short nurse holding a clipboard was standing behind him. "Yes?" he answered.

"Are you the guardian of the recent panic attack that happened to a patient in a car?" she asked.

Thorne frowned. "Isn't she the person that had the panic attack?" He pointed to Cinder. The nurse followed his finger, and shook her head.

"No, sir. She wasn't in a car when the panic attack took place."

Thorne froze. So it wasn't Cinder after all. "Oh. I guess I am the guardian then…" He paused. "Is she okay?"

The nurse nodded her head. "Thankfully, yes. The call came before any serious accident happened. Would you like to see her?"

He nodded his head slowly, and the nurse started walking away from Cinder's bed. He turned to see her, to see if she looked alright, but turned around when a group of doctors and nurses crossed his view.

The nurse stopped in front of a bed that had its curtains closed. She quietly opened the curtains, but for Thorne, everything started going slow motion.

The curtain opened slowly, revealing, first a hand, an arm, and finally, her face. Thorne's breath caught in his throat.

She was still the same as before. Her hair was still auburn color, her thick eyelashes unmoving, her eyes closed. And her lips—

"She seemed to have a panic attack due to some memories that suddenly surfaced her brain. We do not know why her memories suddenly surfaced her brain, but after consulting with her therapist, we may be able to figure out the reason," she interrupted his thoughts.

Thorne nodded, his eyes not leaving her face. "Can you leave us alone?" he whispered, his voice hoarse. The nurse nodded, and started to close the curtain around the bed. He took a hesitant step forward, staggering the rest of the way to the seat next to the bed. He sat down.

Thorne stared at her hands, her small, scarred hands, wondering if he could hold them. Wondering if he had the right to hold them. He lifted his hand up, and a thousand of memories came surfacing up to his head. Holding hands on the bus. Holding hands during class. Holding hands walking home. Holding hands under the blankets. It was easy holding hands back then. Why couldn't he do it now?

Unlike Thorne, so unlike him, he timidly set down his hand on hers. Her hands were cold. So cold. Was it always this cold?

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, revealing two green irises. Thorne jerked his hand back, standing up and knocking the small stool over. She looked around at her surroundings, wondering where she was at. When she saw Thorne, her eyes hardened.

"Thorne? What are you doing here?"

Thorne whipped his head back, seeing an old, but still familiar face. "Fateen? What are _you_ doing here?"

Fateen smiled. "Internship for high school. Remember when I always talked about being a doctor when I was younger? I guess this is helping me make my way up. What about you? What are you doing here?" Then, she saw _her_ on the bed that was next to Thorne.

Fateen's eyebrows lifted up. "Kate? Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in, like, forever! Where have you been?!"

Thorne's heart screamed internally, but Kate just smiled. "Oh, I've been going here and there, visiting some old family and friends. I think I'm here for good now, though." Thorne's eyes widened, and his heart's pace grew. She was staying here for real?

Fateen smiled. "Oh, that's cool. Are you going to the same school as me or this dude over here?" Fateen jabbed a thumb towards Thorne.

Kate shrugged, ignoring Thorne. "I don't really know. Depends on where I live I guess."

"I—I have to go now. Do I need to sign anything before I go?" Thorne asked Fateen.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll get them for you. Wait right here." Fateen left the bed, and Thorne was alone with Kate. After 5 years, they were finally alone.

Thorne avoided Kate's eyes, while she was trying to make eye contact. "Thorne? How did you know I was here?"

Thorne swallowed, nervous. "I—I should go sign the papers. I'll see you later." Thorne walked away from the bed to the front desk, even though Kate was calling from behind him. He didn't have the right to talk to her, or even look at her. Nothing could make him deserve her now. Not after the things—

Fateen bumped into Thorne, looking surprised. "Oh, you came? I guess you're busy right now. Here's the paper and a pen. Just turn them in at the front desk over there." She pointed over to the desk behind her, and then smiled. "Well, see you later!"

Thorne nodded, and smiled. "Thanks." He paused. "Take… take good care of Kate for me. She's one of my best friends. You know that."

Fateen nodded seriously. "Of course I know that. Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." He went up to the front desk, filling out the paper. After he was done, he gave them to a nurse at the front desk.

The nurse giggled behind her hand, but Thorne didn't respond to her. He didn't feel like flirting with anyone today. Not right now.

The cool air that greeted him as he came out of the hospital doors calmed him, a little. He got in the truck, and started the engine. Out of frustration, he banged his fist on the horn, making two nearby people jump from surprise.

Thorne felt something vibrate in his pocket, and pulled out his phone, seeing that he has missed 5 calls from Wolf and Scarlet each. Thorne gulped, and pulled out from the parking lot, out onto the road. He had to go find Cress, and figure out who the suspicious guy next to her was.

He finally decided to call Wolf—Scarlet would yell at him for not answering her calls—to at least let them know he was fine. After two rings, Wolf picked up.

"Hello? Thorne? Are you alright?" Wolf asked, Scarlet obviously trying to get the phone from him.

Thorne managed to create a fake laugh, and said, "Sure, bud. Thanks for not asking any questions. I promise, I'll tell you everything. But… What happened with my stepmom?"

Wolf sighed. "Somebody must've called 911 or something because soon after you left, an ambulance and two police cars came up. We're at the police station right now, trying to answer most of the questions, but we don't know any of them. You should probably come. Oh, and the ambulance took your stepmom to the hospital. She was knocked out when we found her."

Suddenly, Scarlet's voice came on. "Thorne? Are you okay? Where are you? Why in the world are _we_ at the police station, and not you? Come here right now! And why haven't you been answering my calls?"

Despite the stress that was building up on his shoulders, he laughed, a real one. Scarlet was always complaining, whether Thorne was doing something wrong or right.

"I'm sorry, Scarlet. It's just that I had my phone on vibrate, so I didn't know you called me. And I'll come to the police station right now." Thorne nodded to himself. Cress would have to wait. It seemed that she trusted the guy, even though his instinct said otherwise. He would have to trust her, just for a few minutes.

Thorne made a sharp U-turn, and said to his phone, "Look, Scarlet? I'm driving right now, and I don't want to get in an accident because I was talking to you. Even though there's nothing that I can't do, I don't want to get a ticket from the police. I'm Captain Carswell Thorne, I'll be there in just a sec."

Her voice made it understandable that she was rolling her eyes as she said back, "Come on, _Thorne_. Just because your dream is to be captain, doesn't mean you already are. You aren't even a cadet yet! I'm hanging up. Not because of you, but since Wolf's phone battery is going low. I better see you in 5 minutes, mister." She hung up.

Thorne rubbed the back of his neck as he went down the road. Cress would have to wait a bit for him. Just a little bit.


	10. An noteapology

**A/n:**

 **hello, this is 3pj...**

 **Unfortunately, I have some bad news for both me and my readers...**

 **As you can see, I have not updated in a while, and this is so because of some personal reasons. I will not be able to finish/complete my stories due to those personal reasons. I'm sorry that I could not finish this even though there were many people expecting a lot from this.**

 **If someone would like to complete the story in stead of me on another account, please PM me and we'll talk it out.**

 **I apologize for this sudden and unexpected note. I hope you will be understanding. Thank you for those who continued to read (even though it wasn't really good .)**

* * *

 **btw you guys should check out "Blood Sweat and Tears" by Bts. They are my favorite artist, and they're really good haha.**

 **I apologize once again. I'm really sorry!**

 **-3pj**


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